The present invention relates to feeding apparatus for children and, more particularly, to a feeding cup for infants who have difficulty breast feeding.
Breast milk is widely accepted as the most appropriate and nutritious food for infants. Under certain circumstances it is not practical to breast feed an infant, such as when the infant has difficulty sucking. It is possible to collect milk from the mother""s breast, store it and feed it to the infant from a suitable feeding apparatus. Most commonly this is done by placing the collected breast milk in a common feeding expedient such as a formula bottle. Use of conventional baby formula feeding apparatus to dispense breast milk has its drawbacks. Breast milk is not of the same composition and consistency of formula as most formulas are water based and are fed to infants in a greater volume and at a higher flow rate than breast milk. Bottles designed for delivering formula to infants work well when formula is used, but do not work particularly well with breast milk. Infants may also become confused if fed from both bottle and breast because the bottle nipple differs from that of the mother. Under such circumstances the infant may refuse the mother""s nipple entirely.
Other devices such as syringes; droppers, medicine cups or spoons have also been used but in general these devises are more difficult and tedious to maneuver and may also cause the infant to aspirate the collected breast milk.
An example of an apparatus designed specifically to feed breast milk to an infant is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,908 (Foley). Described as a xe2x80x9csupplemental feeding cupxe2x80x9d the Foley device has a main chamber used for collecting the breast milk and an auxiliary reservoir from which the infant is fed. A channel connects the main chamber and auxiliary reservoir allowing the Foley device to be tilted to direct milk from the main chamber to the reservoir and thereafter having the infant feed from the reservoir. Examples of apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the Foley reference show that the cup is formed from a flexible thermoplastic material. The communicating channel in Foley extends from the bottom of the main chamber upward to the auxiliary reservoir. As seen in Foley, the auxiliary reservoir is somewhat rectangular and blunt in shape and delivers liquid in a substantially continuous flow when tilted from its relatively broad front lip, requiring the infant to use its tongue to xe2x80x9clapxe2x80x9d the liquid.
Other examples of feeding apparatus for infants include U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,625 (Foley) which teaches and describes a drinking cup with teat attachment consisting of a customized nipple which may be attached to a wide variety of containers for formula or breast milk. The nipple includes a venting valve and an extension tube upon which the infant sucks to obtain breast milk from the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,027 (Hunter) teaches and describes a nipple feeder arrangement having a rigid lid to which a soft, flexible teat-like drinking spout is integrally attached.
While the foregoing references describe feeding apparatus suitable for certain feeding purposes, they do not offer the advantages offered by the present invention.
Feeding systems that require the filling of a rigid or semi-rigid container to which a feeding cap is attached, do not address the problem of collecting breast milk and supplying it contemporaneously to a baby.
Even cup constructions which are designed primarily for feeding breast milk are generally difficult to hold for extended lengths of time, making it more difficult to supply milk to an infant in a controlled manner and are not capable of any auxiliary pumping action to control the flow of milk to the reservoir nor to deliver it drop-by-drop to the infant. Consequently, there is a need for an improved infant feeding cup used for collecting and administering breast milk to an infant.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an infant""s feeding cup which enables the user to collect breast milk and feed it to an infant exhibiting difficulty in normal breast feeding.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such feeding cups configured to be easy to grip and control.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such cups with flow control features to allow infants to ingest liquid food by lapping or drop-by-drop.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such cups in forms to limit the opportunity for aspiration of liquid food by controlling the volume of such food available to an infant.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such cups in forms which are easy and economical to manufacture and simple and convenient to use.
The infant feeding cup of the present invention is formed as a unitary receptacle from a material which is soft, flexible, easily sanitized and manipulable to control the flow of breast milk held within. The receptacle is formed generally as a curvilinear vessel having an elongated xe2x80x9cspoon-shapedxe2x80x9d spout and a collection reservoir with the spout attached at a neck to the uppermost portion of the reservoir at one end thereof. A hollow supporting rib is attached at the neck to the underside of the spout and to the reservoir, and forms a conduit for the milk. At the end opposite the spout end a generally flat handle is integrally formed.
The receptacle has a flat base which forms the bottom of the collection chamber enabling the feeding cup to stand upright on a flat surface. This allows the cup to stand upright in a stable position when it is full, partially full or empty. The reservoir is formed in a generally irregular oval shape with the spout and handle aligned along the major axis of the oval.
The flexible material used to form the apparatus allows the user to control the flow of breast milk from the collection chamber to the spout by allowing a user to force milk along the neck by compressing the reservoir or to close off the neck completely to trap a supply of milk in the spout. The configuration of the spout also allows drop-by-drop feeding of the breast milk from the collection chamber through the spout to the mouth of the infant. In a second preferred embodiment a series of lateral ribs is formed at the end of the spout at right angles to the milk flow path to provide greater flow control and allow milk to drip from the spout.
The spout is designed to hold about 1.5 ml of milk, an amount which helps to avoid aspiration.